1am and caffinated...might as well blog.

Tonight after work, I ate the dinner Jimmy made, sewed some work that I brought home with me, and then brewed a pot of coffee. I had to do some homework, and I expected it to take longer than it did. So now I am pretty hyper for 1am.

Backing up: At the shop today it was just Rick and myself. I felt like I was bothering Rick whenever I asked him a question. He seems surprised whenever I have to ask him the same question more than once. For example, I asked him tonight which order three buttons get pushed to 'void' a purchase on the cash register. He said that he thought I'd know since I watched him do it ONCE earlier in the day. My mind doesn't retain info quite that fast. So when he answered my question tonight, I made a note on an index card. Now I can refer to that instead of bugging Rick. I have to study for my job, just like it's one of my classes.

I think I have redeemed myself a little with Rick though. A woman came in at 5pm to reserve a Toy Solider costume for her son. The costume we have for a child toy soldier is Red, yellow and white. The only hats available that look right for the toy soldier are old UNT marching band hats. The woman said it would work, but wished that UNT's school color (green) worked better with the red costume.
After the customer left, I told Regina that I could easily change the color of the helmet's front triangle patch, if I just had some red fabric to work with. This summer, I did the EXACT same thing in my Costume one class for the production of 'Alice in Wonderland'. My costume professor, Barbara, had me change two UNT marching band helmets from green to red. I told Rick it'd take me around 30 minutes to do the job, if they wanted it done. Rick pointed me toward a box of scrap fabric and said, get cracking.
I ended up taking the sewing project home with me, since the shop was about to close for the night. While Jimmy finished cooking dinner, I sewed down the new red triangle patch on the marching helmet (the trick is using a needle that is curved like a fishhook). It took about 40 minutes. I *do* get paid for my time sewing at home. [Last week they had me mend a Snow White dress at home, and I saw that extra hour and a half on my paycheck.]
Right before we closed up shop for the night at 6pm, Rick said that he has many of these marching hats and that if my col0r-swapping job looks good, he might have me change more of the helmets, so he'll have more variety at the shop than just Green UNT ones. What I lack in cash register memorization, I make up for in creativity and nimbleness with a needle.
When Jimmy drops me on campus tomorrow, he is gonna drop by the shop and drop off the hat for me. The customer is picking it up in the afternoon.
I talked to Dave, talked to Jimmy, talked to Hope, and talked to Rick&Regina. It seems like we have an idea of what our Christmas break will be like. The store is open the Saturday before Christmas and they NEED me to work, so my family can't leave for Florida when we were hoping to (Thurs or Friday).
Since I can't get those days off from work at the shop, Rick proposed that I get extra days off from the shop AFTER Christmas instead. So that is the new plan. I will work Friday and Saturday at the shop, then we will leave for Florida that same Saturday night. Jim will drive through the night (at least til we are out of Texas) and then Dave can take over driving. We will get to FL some time on Sunday the 23rd.

The costume store is closed Dec 23-26th, and Dec 30- Jan 1st (so there are just three working days between the breaks).
The new plan means I can take off from work on the 27th & 28th on top of the regular Christmas break (and possibly the 29th).We could be in Florida from Sunday the 23rd through Friday (or up to the following Tuesday, if I get Saturday the 29th off from work).
Dave's schedule will play a part in deciding how long we stay in Florida, because he has a job to get to as well. The joy of cellphones is that I can call the rest of my family from whatever state I am in.

I just looked online... I earned an 86% on 'Exam 2' for my Communication class. With the 96% I earned on the first Exam, that means that I don't have to take the optional final exam. The final exam is only necessary if I need to replace a previous test grade. So that's a final exam I wont have to worry about. That's a nice feeling considering that this is one of the classes I need to graduate (not an elective). The homework I was doing tonight was for this same class. Myself and four classmates have to give a speech in class after the Thanksgiving break. I re-wrote the speech tonight, including all these requirements we just heard about in the last week.

Elaine went back to school today. She was feeling mostly better. Allan was worse today. His nose has been running all day, he's been coughing and has a little fever (which means his immune system is working). He keeps climbing up in my lap while I'm writing this. He woke up about 40 minutes ago and hasn't fallen back to sleep. :( I think I'll go lay down with him to make him go to sleep.

I'll work on the charcoal drawing for Jill's boss Thursday night. :)